Retired Teacher Learned Lessons In Russia Soviet People Curious About U.s.

April 15, 1986|by KAREN FINNEGAN, The Morning Call

Russia's economic system has major problems and the people do not seem happy, according to Thomas Iacone of Nazareth.

At the same time, the retired teacher has high praise for the educational system in Russia, where he recently spent eight days touring with other educators and former educators. The tour was set up by a teacher in the Pocono Mountain School District with whom Iacone, who still works as a substitute teacher, a volunteer tutor at Northampton County Prison, and a member of the Nazareth Area School District Curriculum Committee, is acquainted.

At a time when relations between the United States and Russia are in the headlines daily, Iacone, a social studies teacher for 35 years, wanted to see and hear first-hand how the Russian people viewed the United States, whether international tensions were lessening, and how the Russians viewed new economic plans adopted earlier this year by 27th Soviet Communist Party Congress.

Iacone found the Russians very friendly, cordial, willing to exchange views, and curious about Americans. "It shows that they do not believe what their leaders are telling them," Iacone says.

His group toured the Museum of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in Moscow, where three members of the All-Union Society of Knowledge held a panel discussion with about 50 people from several countries. One was head of cultural affairs at a local university, another a newspaper editor, and the third in public relations. Many beliefs about Russia were rebutted during the discussion.

The Americans were told travel for Russians is not restricted - that 9.5- million Russians travel abroad each year, mostly to Socialist countries. They were also told English literature is not banned, and the chairman of the panel said many English works are translated into Russian.

The chairman told the group to ask any questions "regardless of their political sensitivity," recounts Iacone.

Iacone says someone asked why news is suppressed in Russia. The discussion chairman replied: "Americans are misinformed. Freedom to speak out is permitted here and Izvestia and Pravda (the state newspapers) are not the only newspapers." He said there were more than 50 newspapers in Moscow alone, with varying points of view and "Letters to the Editor" sections. Iacone says the letters contained complaints about such things as government officials using limousines. The discussion chairman also said that American newspapers do not print all the news, and pointed to the motto of the New York Times: "All the News That's Fit to Print."

Iacone observes that most Russians do not buy newspapers, because they cannot afford them, but rather read them on bulletin boards in the streets.

The discussion leader also said demonstrations are allowed, and a recent one was held in Moscow's Red Square by citizens demanding an end to the arms race.

Questioned about Russia's policy in Afghanistan, the discussion chairman said, "Just as the United States seeks to secure it borders in Nicaragua and Central America, Russia must do so in Afghanistan, which borders China."

Asked why tourists were forbidden to photograph such things as airfields, bridges, railways, the discussion chairman said he doubted a Russian would be permitted to do so in this country.

Iacone says he was struck by the sadness of the Russian people he saw on the street.

"They are expressionless. They don't smile. Life must be dull." He said Moscow's "Fifth Avenue," Gorky Street, has "no life, no activity." There are few restaurants, night clubs and movie houses. The streets are deserted in the evening. Television, Iacone says, does not come on until 7 p.m.

He says the Russians' standard of living is well below that of the United States. Although no one is hungry, Russians must line up daily outside state- owned grocery stores to buy food. Often, the stores simply run out of items. "I didn't believe it until I saw it," says Iacone. Russians over 18 cannot buy milk, except during pregnancy because of shortages.

While the Russians are well dressed, he says, most have only a few pieces of clothing - men, perhaps two pairs of pants, and women, four or five dresses. Women do not wear slacks, Iacone observes. Everything is purchased in state stores. "You don't see jewelry stores or specialty shops," says Iacone, wondering how Russians would feel if they saw a typical American deparment store, with the quantity of goods and different styles.

Cars are a luxury, according to the information his group was given, and from his observations, well beyond the means of most Russians, who use subways, buses and trains, Iacone adds.

Housing is a problem, even 40 years after World War II. Iacone says he was told by the discussion leader at the Marx and Engels Museum that the government now has built housing for only 80 percent of the people displaced by the war. The government owns all the land. There is no such thing as the "American dream" of building and owning a home.